part of a well balanced breakfast - 88%

South of Heaven = too slow.
Reign in Blood = too fast.
Seasons in the Abyss = just right.

Ah yes, I recall those fuzzy days when Slayer was a force to be reckoned with, the heaviest fucking band in the world. The days when I scrawled Slayer on any nearby flat surface, the days when metal was new and Slayer was best. I've come a long way since then (4 years ago!) but Slayer still kicks ass, and Seasons in the Abyss is their most balanced and consistent album..... you have slow and grinding songs like Expendable Youth and Skeletons of Society side by side with pure thrashers.... it's a regular metal block party. There are so many classics on this bad boy it becomes ridiculous.

Messers Hanneman and King shred the fucker up... Seasons was perhaps their peak as far as riffage goes. Nothing drastic, just 3 or 4 killer riffs per song. Hollow Point is the exception... talk about thrash! Songs like Spirit in Black and War Ensemble SCREAM heavy fucking metal... who hasn't screamed FORWARD TO WARRRR at an unsuspecting stranger for no apparent reason? It's like a rite of passage

On with the "slow jams". Dead Skin Mask is Slayer's twisted ode to Ed Gein... talk about creepy. They really hit a nerve... especially when the little kid comes in with "mr. gein.... mr gein? MR GEIN?". Seasons in the Abyss is one of the songs that turned me onto this thing in the first place so I must appreciate.

Not exactly a blazing thrasher... solid nonetheless. Essential for fans of metal.